October 19, 2009

Too often we blog in anonymity hiding in our basements, concocting our screeds in our pajamas, and hurling them out to the huddled masses yearning to be free of Obama and his coterie of sycophants. Well, I don't know about youse guys, but I have written a line or two in my PJs early in the morning while waiting for Mrs Войска ПВО to relinquish the shower and bathroom for my morning ablutions.

..and, as for huddled masses, I'm still waiting for some scrap of lunacy typed at this site to go viral but am not prepared to advocate armed insurrection (yet). Meanwhile, a hardy few stop by and read my circumlocution and tolerate my tortured metaphors. Two such brave adventurers are "LL" and Madame Opus #6 who have been, in kind posts, supportive and the epitome of gentlemanly and gentlewomanly conduct.

And it is to those two I wish to express my admiration and gratitude.

You see, I had the distinct pleasure of lunching with them this past Friday and, I can safely say, that my only disappointment was that the time was far too short. Aside from that, it was a distinct thrill to meet fellow warriors in the Army of the Long March to November 2012.

"LL" is truly a fearsome and impressive individual whose background includes participation in three prominent federal organizations whose charter is the welfare and safety of this country. He authors several blogs: Virtual Mirage, one discussing U.S.-Mexican border Security, and My Journey. All three are entertaining and worth a visit.

Opus #6 is a very charming young lady who is the author of the MAInfo blog cited on the left over there. I find myself visiting there often, if only to take in the magnificent picture that comprises her banner art. But, believe me, her posts -- like LL's -- are instructive and entertaining.

The significance of this for me, was to place faces, voices, personalities to the sobriquets we all trade in. It immediately became clear the joy that bloggers derive from congregating in PACs, CPACs, WCPACs, political conventions, beer hall gatherings, etc. While we can post our hopes, dreams, frustrations, joys, sorrows, and thoughts from the privacy of our basements (in our pajamas), it is quite exhilarating to actually share ideas and concepts face-to-face.

I am so very grateful to these two for sharing their afternoon with me. I look forward to many more such get-togthers.

That being said, we spoke of the possibility of meeting with other bloggers in the Southern California area who might like to assemble for evenings of swapping stories, tall tales, political planning, and technical tidbits. If it interest you and you are geographically located, we should make plans. I am not sure what we will accomplish, but perhaps if we brought neophytes to the meeting, we might encourage them to start blogging. I know for certain that we will be needed next year and in 2012.

So, thanks again for lunch, LL and thank you very much for your company and suggestions, Opie. Next one is on me and I'm hoping we can make it some evening after work.

October 15, 2009

My friend from the USAF Auxiliary, Major Joe Dimento, the former B-36 RDO, sends along this funny:

Those of us who spend much time in a doctor's office should appreciate this! Doesn't it seem more and more that physicians are running their practices like an assembly line? Here's what happened to Bubba:

Bubba walked into a doctor's office and the receptionist asked him what he had. Bubba said, "Shingles."

So she wrote down his name, address, medical insurance number and told him to have a seat. Fifteen minutes later a nurse's aide came out and asked Bubba what he had..

Again, Bubba replied, "Shingles."

So she took down his height, weight, a complete medical history and told Bubba to wait in the examining room. Half hour later a nurse came in and asked Bubba what he had. Bubba patiently replied a third time, "Shingles.."

So the nurse gave Bubba a blood test, a blood pressure test, an electrocardiogram, and told Bubba to take off all his clothes and wait for the doctor. An hour later the doctorcame in and found Bubba sitting patiently in the nude and asked Bubba what he had. Bubba sighed and told the doc, "Shingles."

The doctor asked, "Where?"

Bubba said, "Outside on the truck. Where do you want me to unload 'em?"

October 12, 2009

It seems that the Nobel Prize has done little to boost public opinion of The Boy King. There was the briefest period of the waters receding as he clawed his was back to a -3 in the Rasmussen daily tracking poll. But, our boy seems to be caught inside once more as the big sets resume rolling through. His overall approval is still a head-below-water 49% as well.

It will be very interesting to see what happens when we head into the Christmas season and the MSM, hungry for stories, begins playing up the "I am out of work and my kids won't be getting any Tickle-me-Elmos in their stockings this year" angle. You get the feeling that the love will fade away when the POSOTUS and FLOTUS step out on the town in their Christmas finery ($1,000 sneaker boots?) on festive Yuletide date nights while those on the outs sit in the snow on their blankets begging for a crust and copper or two.

God bless us, every one!

NOTE:There's a link over on the left hand side of this blog that'll get you Rasmussen's daily tracking poll. It's fascinating to revisit the early entries -- scant months ago -- and mark his steady decline.

It seems Hollywood's fair-haired boy is becoming depressed while in jail according to his mouthpiece. I have a suggestion: why not get him a room-mate to keep him company on those cold Winter evenings? I mean, someone who has will probably share his liberal views on gay rights.

I mean, after all, isn't abolishing "don't ask, don't tell" going to be all the rage pretty soon?

October 10, 2009

So how would you feel if your college team (UCLA) was up 3-0 at the half on Oregon (you know, those idiot, liberal green-mongers with the ugliest football uniforms in the world) and you came back to the game with 3:00 minutes gone in the 3rd quarter to find them trailing 14-3..

..and the idiot in the White House won a booby prize from a bunch of Euro-commies, and your country's going to hell in and basket, and this pimple says it's gonna be at least five more weeks before he can make a decision about reinforcements for what he called the necessary war, and you are governed by a bunch of dimwitted, raging, assholes like Pelosi, Reid, Bawney "Gums" Fwank, and the whole collection of loons, and..

..well, you get the idea. I kind of feel like the manic-depressive Baby-Faced Nelson character in Oh Brother! Where Art Thou!

One small thing that cheers me up is the others on the blogosphere who do not get taken in by the truckloads of bull dust that get dumped on us each day by the Knee-Pad Media. They come up with some pretty funny stuff, two of which are on exhibit here. The weiner is courtesy of Madame S. Weasel whose site I have been hyping since dirt was new. She holds forth with some witty comments and her visitors some clever ripostes. So, what are you waiting for? Get over there and check it out.

The other ray of sunlight today is this marvelous picture of our flouncing Nancy pretty-boy, wuss, prez. It says it all, don't it? Hat tip on this one to Protein Wisdom by way of Blog de KingShamus.

Thanks, ladies and gents. I can hardly wait until thhat first Thuursday in 2010.

UPDATE: By the way, there's a good dialog going on over at the Protein Wisdom site. Some idiot troll showed up and mumbled something about the hateful right not being sufficiently sensitive to the great achievement that was Obama's Nobel Prize and was hit with a number of responses about how a truly humble and grateful person would have refused the award. The thread is worth a read. I cite one particularly astute response from a poster named stuiec:

Since the Nobel Committee doesn’t officially divulge nominations for fifty years after the award year, we don’t know the full list of nominees. But a few of the names have surfaced, including Afghan human rights activist Sima Samar, expatriate Uighur peace activist Rebiya Kadeer, Chinese dissident Hu Jia, and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai.

A truly self-aware and gracious Barack Obama would have declined the Peace Prize and highlighted the actual accomplishments of these and other nominees who are far more deserving. But what can you expect from a guy who won’t even let the Dalai Lama come to the White House because he’s more interested in paying political favors to the Chinese?

October 9, 2009

I'm guessing this is really an inside joke by the Nobel Committee. MAInfo posts the You Tube video and invites us to listen to the gasps of surprise from the crowd in the room when the announcement was made:

But when I watched this, I immediately caught the guy in back of the announcer who breaks out in a silly-assed grin (at :17 and :22) when Obama is said to be the winner in Norwegian (?) and then in English. It's just creepy.

Right wing pundits took the opportunity to blast the president and the award itself, while even some liberal writers contended the president has so far fallen short of his potential to do good. Other liberals saw the award as an opportunity for Mr. Obama to expand his influence for the better. Nearly all, however, seemed to agree it was shocking to see the president receive the prize so early on in his presidency.

In other circles of Obama sycophancy, even the knee-pad media is dumb-founded. But they managed to dredge up the piquancy of his being awarded a commendation for his crusade for peace at a time when he is wrestling with a decision to send another 40,000 young men and women in harm's way:

Obama is the third sitting U.S. president–and the first in 90 years–to win the prestigious peace prize. His predecessors won during their second White House terms, however, and after significant achievements in their diplomacy. Woodrow Wilson was awarded the price in 1919, after helping to found the League of Nations and shaping the Treatise of Versailles; and Theodore Roosevelt was the recipient in 1906 for his work to negotiate an end to the Russo-Japanese war.

In contrast, Obama is struggling over whether to expand the war in Afghanistan, preparing to withdraw from Iraq, and searching for ways to build momentum to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and assemble an international effort to stop Iran’s nuclear program.

But this peace thing is rough business. Maybe some of the lovely Code Pink creatures can help our POSOTUS out.

UPDATE: In what can only be described as the most monumental example of getting the cart before the horse, the Boy King accepts the prize with humility (NOT!) and says he'll accept Nobel as 'call to action'. I'm thinkin' that action will include a few more trips out on the economy with the FLOTUS for $6,000 purses, $500 sneakers, and $45,000 date nights to The Big Apple.

The man who has accomplished absolutely nothing since taking office has been given the equivalent of an affirmative action just for showing up award. Oh yeah, how to think Hillary Clinton feels about this news after slogging around the world as Secretary of State?

I am still reeling over the announcement that our beloved pantload has garnered the Nobel Peace Prize. While my initial reaction was one of incredible shock and surprise, it is clear that this will take some time to sink in.

On one level, it's great news because I was casting about for a follow-up to the previous week's award and wondering how to work the truly tragic topic of our soldiers losing their lives in Afghanistan because this flouncing Nancy waltzed off to Copenhagen to get rebuked by the IOC. It would have been a repeat of the award topic and could turn out to be sadly inappropriate and disrespectful to our brave men and women in the armed services.

But, lo, there do I see the wonderful Euro-Commies coming to my rescue in presenting their cheap, valueless trophy to our cheap, valueless leader. (And I use the term "leader" very loosely.) So I am going with presenting my award to the clowns who present their award to the clowns who tear down this world in the name of peace through their questionable accomplishments. You know, Carter, Gore, and now the Head Butt-wipe.

Congratulations fellas, this turd's for you.

By the way, I reserve the right to re-cast this post as the realization and nuances sink in. I mean, this is the gift that keeps on giving and I am sure that man-days of blogosphere effort will be devoted to dissecting this worthless bestowal of dubious recognition. So be prepared for updates.

Finally, I have just one question. If the deadline for the Nobel Peace Prize is February 1st of this year, then what did Barry do in the ten days following his inauguration until the polls were closed? I am guessing the following:

(1) Being black(2) Not being George Bush(3) Getting elected

UPDATE: The first of many, I am sure. I may be as saturated with ego and the POSOTUS (you figure it out), but I wonder which award has more relevance: Steaming Load of the Week or the Nobel Peace Prize?

October 7, 2009

Whilst traipsing through some promising links I came upon a marvelous column by George Will, conservative writer and baseball fan who has been whiffing a lot lately. Well, George may not have hit this one out of the park, but he did send a shot down the alley in right-center and is rounding second heading for a sure stand-up triple. (See my comments on the art of baseball announcers below.)

But I digress. Mr Will served up a gem about the narcissism of the First-Pantload and Pantload-ess in their recent sacrificial speeches to the IOC this past week:

Both Obamas gave heartfelt speeches about ... themselves. Although the working of the committee's mind is murky, it could reasonably have rejected Chicago's bid for the 2016 games on aesthetic grounds -- unless narcissism has suddenly become an Olympic sport.

At this point, George serves one up into my wheel house:

In 2008, Obama carried the three congressional districts that contain Northern California's Silicon Valley with 73.1, 69.6 and 68.4 percent of the vote. Surely the Valley could continue its service to him by designing software for his speechwriters' computers that would delete those personal pronouns, replacing them with the word "sauerkraut" to underscore the antic nature of their excessive appearances.

And -- this will be trickier -- the software should delete the most egregious cliches sprinkled around by the tin-eared employees in the White House speechwriting shop.

Now, gentle readers, this is how ol' Voyska earns his bones, writing software. So I thought I'd craft a routine -- a function -- that could be plugged into such software and yield a similar result:

if (nType == POTUS) { strWorkBuffer.Replace(" I ", " the Narcissistic Pantload"); strWorkBuffer.Replace(" me ", " the Clueless OJT President "); strWorkBuffer.Replace(" my ", " the Won's "); } else if (nType == FLOTUS) { strWorkBuffer.Replace(" I ", " the Sacrificing Narcissistic Pantsuitload"); strWorkBuffer.Replace(" me ", " the Bride of Frankenstein "); strWorkBuffer.Replace(" my ", " the $500-sneaker-wearing squeeze's "); } return strWorkBuffer }..well, it may have some bugs in it - I just dashed it out. But you get the idea. If there are some of you out there who are developers and remember the old "ebonics.exe" app that was floating around over a decade ago, maybe we could develop something like that. You know, a simple app that reads one of The Won's speeches and converts into something like "The Narcissistic Pantload says it's all Bush's fault!"

The anecdote about baseball announcers? Well, when I was a kid in the fifties, I used to watch the weekly televised baseball game and one of the announcers was the lovable and homey ace of the old St Louis Cardinal Gas House Gang pitching staff, Dizzy Dean. He was from the Ozarks and brought his homespun phrases to the announcers booth where they tended to distort the actual event s on the field to the extent one was left thanking the Gods of Baseball for television. An example: Mantle up, one down, no on one, and Mick lines one to right. This call trips off the tongue of Ol' Diz:

"Hah pop fly hung out there ins right field, Mantle's around first and slud into second with a stand-up double!"

October 6, 2009

From the WikiPedia entry"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is a poem and song by Gil Scott-Heron. It was the B-side to Scott-Heron's first single, "Home Is Where the Hatred Is", from his album Pieces of a Man (1971). It was also included on his compilation album, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1974).

"It first appeared on the 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, on which Scott-Heron recited the piece, accompanied only by congas and bongo drums. A re-recorded version, this time with a full band, appeared on the 1971 album Pieces of a Man and as the b-side to the single "Home Is Where The Hatred Is". All these releases were issued on the Flying Dutchman Productions label. The piece's name was also used as the title to Scott-Heron's "Best of" album, issued in 1998 by RCA. The song appeared in the film The Hurricane by Norman Jewison about the wrongful imprisonment of boxer Rubin Carter and the fight to free him from injustice."

No reason, I just wanted to post it here because it seems that all the anger that invested itself in the Left during the 60s (yeah, those sixties) is coming around full circle as more and more people feel disenfranchised by a government that does not listen to its constituents. Maybe it's a little over the top; maybe not.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised You will not be able to stay home, brother.You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,Skip out for beer during commercials,Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.The revolution will not be brought to you by XeroxIn 4 parts without commercial interruptions.The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixonblowing a bugle and leading a charge by JohnMitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eathog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by theSchaefer Award Theatre and will not star NatalieWoods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.The revolution will not make you look five poundsthinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie Maypushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32or report from 29 districts.The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting downbrothers in the instant replay.There will be no pictures of pigs shooting downbrothers in the instant replay.There will be no pictures of Whitney Young beingrun out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.There will be no slow motion or still life of RoyWilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black andGreen liberation jumpsuit that he had been savingFor just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and HootervilleJunction will no longer be so damned relevant, andwomen will not care if Dick finally gets down withJane on Search for Tomorrow because Black peoplewill be in the street looking for a brighter day.The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clocknews and no pictures of hairy armed womenliberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, TomJones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a messageabout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.You will not have to worry about a dove in yourbedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.The revolution will not go better with Coke.The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,will not be televised, will not be televised.The revolution will be no re-run brothers;The revolution will be live.

Over in Hot Air's Green Room is a great post -- Lab coats required -- which gives us a peek back stage at the White House's little soirée with the 150 docs from all over the land flocking to hear the Pantload-lin-Chief flap his gums about health care.

Of course, to give it a more realistic appearance, all the docs and doc-ettes were asked to wear their lab coats. Presumably, extra points were given if you brought that chest-listening-thngy that you use. You know, the, um, uh, stehoscope. Yeah! that's it! And one can only surmise that cherries were put on top of the sundaes of those who wore those light-reflecting doo-dads on their heads and brought their own actual doctor bags.

Forget your coat? No problem! We'll have a pert little staffer-ette handing out spares for the upcoming photo-op.

Of course, this begs the question, what did the White House crew do for the empty seats during a wide-angle shots? I mean, they had a bunch of helpers and some extra jackets?

So, if you're a gardener at the White House yesterday afternoon (no, not you, Chauncey) and you're pressed into service for a picture or two to fill out the crowd, does that make you a tree doctor?

October 5, 2009

Our legislature, apparently, is going to attempt to pass Obamacare in the next few days. It is crucial to contact the 13 members of the Senate Finance Committee and let them know how you feel about this. No on Cloture is a good idea for a talking point. I'm not sure the emails in this list work. I tried a couple and got delivery failure notices. I hear these guys change their email addresses regularly.

Mary Katherine Ham, my heart throb and "fellow ham" (I am k6whp; it's an inside joke) wrapped up the Conservative American Dream Summit and, during her speech, offered the following absolutely shocking statistics about the documented acts of violence at the 450 or so by attendees to this past August and September's Town Hall meetings.

Turns out there were four slaps, one shove, three punches, one sign grabbed, one solved act of vandalism, and one unsolved act of vandalism. And, here is another stunner: of the eleven acts above, seven were perpetrated by liberals versus conservatives.

Compare and contrast with the recent G20 meeting in Pittsburgh where rocks and bottles were thrown at police, barrels were rolled down the streets, windows were smashed in, and 66 were arrested.

The downside of the Government's Epic Fail-of-a-Cash-for-Clunkers may have been that it merely front-loaded auto sales figures and that is a bummer and pretty much of a hallmark of the failed-and-failing stimulation effort by this incompetent administration.

..but my good friend and work associate, Dave Brown, points out that the upside to this program was that it got 95% of the cars with OBAMA/BIDEN bumper stickers off the road.

October 3, 2009

Work with me here on some math. Michael Moore's new film opened at #7 out of 10 and grossed [only] $1.5 millions -- at least that's what Drudge reported. That's not too good is it? I mean, these films don't usually have legs and this means he will "only" gross about twenty mil or so. That's pathetic compared to the other crap he's shoveled out to an unsuspecting public..

..isn't it?

Still, with a haul like that, I don't think that this cheeseburger-sucking tub of goo shouldn't be out savaging capitalism, do you?

On another front, I hear that Chicago got stuffed in the first round by a vote of 18 out of 94. Now I know that's bad. I mean, if you are a utility infielder (for the Cubs) and you're 18 for 94 for the season, you should expect to be back down on their class D farm club roster sometime before September, right?

Well, maybe the Sox. The Cubs would probably keep you on.

UPDATE: George will throws out more numbers for us to consider. Paraphrasing, our beloved pair of narcissists went to Copenhagen and both gave speeches about themselves. Michelle used the personal pronoun or a form of it 34 times in 16 paragraphs and The Big Flopper did the same 23 times in 13 paragraphs.

To quote Ecclesiastes, "All is vanity.."

UPDATE II: Clifton over at his stupendous ABC blog, posts a confirmation that The Cheeseburger-Sucking Tool's latest offering tanked. As I said, only his doing a reprise of Mama Cass's room-service sayonara could make me more happy. I suppose that's cold, but no more so that the slime and ooze that issues from certain Floridian members of the House of Representatives and sallow-skinned, greasy-haired, tattooed lefty actresses wearing idiot glasses.

..well a former passion has been ignited you might say. When I left the USAF in the 70s (yeah, those 70s, with Nixon, Ford, Carter, disco, the misery index, and stuff), I wanted to take up soaring. So, in SoCal I headed out to Hemet, California and managed to literally get within one session of soloing before familial responsibilities intervened. This persisted through two families and one-point-five generations (the latest having left the household for the loving and tender care of the USMC). In 2005 and 2006, I resumed this dream but rust, disuse again led me to virtually start from the beginning. I was yet again virtually on the verge of soloing when the rains hit and some pretty nasty events rent the Lake Perris Soaring Club (of which I was a member) asunder. So, foiled again!

Drat!

However, third time's a charm and I will come into some free time and money in the near future. I do not intend to squander this opportunity to mingle with the clouds, I assure you.

For those who know aught of this sport, it is truly a beautiful manifestation of man's attempt to claw his way to the heavans. It is done, for the most part, without power and at the good graces of the updrafts ("thermals") and wind waves that God sprinkles in our atmosphere. Pilots who master this are said to be more skillful than those who strap themselves into powered flight machines and allow a noisy, smell motor drag (or push) their vehicle around the sky.

Here is a You Tube video that briefly captures that spirit. enjoy!

As I more and more resume this passion, I will share pictures, videos, and reminiscences with you.

I am becoming a big fan of Greta Van Sustern these days. One finds the terminally self-referential O'Reilly to be a wearying exercise in listening to an egotist bloviate about himself almost as much as our POTUS. Hannity is fun, but a incessant ticking off of talking points that, for a 60 minute show, can also become tedious. The only challenge after taking in the first 10-minute rush of Obama's daily stumbles is to determine who the token lib will be on his panel of great-great-great Americans. If it's Bob Beckel, it engenders an almost-wrist-breaking reflex to remote the show into digital oblivion. Though, to be sure, Bob's brother is a breath of fresh air and to see both of them go at it should become a regular feature of Sean's show. (Hint, hint, Sean.)

Of course, the sad thing is that Chris Wallace only appears on Sundays. But, alas, a nightly show of his keen, insightful interviewing and relentless prodding would be like going on a diet of chocolate sundaes: delightful at first, but deleterious to one's taste buds and health.

But Greta is a jewel! She was a women I used to loathe when she came out in defense of O. J. Simpson many years ago and, to be sure, she has (or had) some liberal tendencies. But, like Wallace, she hides her political proclivities with great skill. Or, perhaps not. But both come down hard on the incompetent, the bumbling, the ridiculous, and the absurd who try to foist off their inanities on the good people of this country. They are a pleasure to watch and I revel in Greta's current incessant advocacy of common sense in government. Also, it is fairly impressive that the hoists that copy of HR 3200 aloft often on her shows. You know the one I am talking about. The one festooned with post-it notes. The document that actually looks like it was read. I mean, she is no stevedore.

On the basis of that alone, I would be enticed to vote for this woman should she run for office.

And, in fact, I have voted for her because I have set my TIVO (or whatever passes for TIVO with my ComCast Cable service) to record her nightly. She is a delight to watch and this past Friday's show was no exception. So, after all this buildup, the point of this post is I want you to watch her interview with Thomas Eagleburger, former SOS under George Bush the First. It's a pretty searing indictment of the current administration and Obama's behavior:

Sure, he's an operative of a Republican president and is not likely to cut a Democrat some slack. But he did say some nice things about that goofy guy we all came to know and love in the 90s, Bill Clinton. And he did work for other administrations as a minor luminary, like the-now-second-worst-president-in-American-history, Jimmy Carter. So I take this guy seriously and think he's nailed Obama.

Cj, over at the Illustrated Conservative took up the drum beat of the Olympic Fail that recently befell our beloved Pantload-in-Chief. It occasioned my response that I wish to share with you:

"These folks struck out on so-o-o-o many levels. I mean there's the question of priorities of course. But it also engenders concerns about judgment as well. The spin out now is that it was a lost cause to begin with and, if that is the case, then why was the precious time and precious resources of the POTUS expended on the venture in the first place.

There's an economy that has a huge, sucking chest wound, there is a foreign policy that is becoming so bad, it makes Madeline Halfbright seem like a freaking genius.

(Oh, and while we're at it, where the hell is SOS Clinton anyway?)

And, most importantly, there's the little matter of a field commander with whom the Pantload-in-Chief has only had one meeting in the last 10 weeks and who is saying that he needs more resources of or the effort in Afghanistn will be going down the same toilet bowl that the Olympic bid, the economy, and our foreign policy is disappearing into.

Oh, wait a minute. I would be wrong. After Obama's dubious efforts got shoved down the glory hole in Copenhagen, he managed to squeeze in 30 minutes of face time with General McChrystal on Air Force One prior to his return to Washington D.C. Gosh, I wonder if anything substantive was discussed? Maybe the General got invited to another beer summit at the White House with Slow Joe Biden.

Seems our POTUS and his crew aren't the only stupid people in the world. This brand spanking new Airbus 340-600, the largest Passenger airplane ever built, sits just outside its hangar In Toulouse, France without a single hour of airtime.

Enter the Arab flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) to conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine run-ups prior to delivery to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. The ADAT crew taxied the A340-600 to the run-up area. Then they took all four engines to takeoff power with a virtually empty aircraft. Not having read the run-up Manuals, they had no clue just how light an empty A340-600 really is. The takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit Because they had all four engines at full power. The aircraft computers thought they were trying to take off, But it had not been configured properly (flaps/slats, etc.) Then one of the ADAT crew decided to pull the circuit breaker on the Ground Proximity Sensor to silence the alarm. This fools the aircraft into thinking it is in the air. The computers automatically released all the brakes and set the aircraft rocketing forward. The ADAT crew had no idea that this is a safety feature So that pilots can't land with the brakes on.Not one member of the seven-man Arab crew was smart enough to throttle back the engines from their max power setting, So the $200 million brand-new aircraft crashed into a blast barrier, totaling it. The extent of injuries to the crew is unknown due to the news blackout in the major media in France and elsewhere. Coverage of the story was deemed insulting to Muslim Arabs.Finally, the photos are starting to leak out.

Well, his nibs, the Supreme High Pantload of the Land, the Pantloadess, and the chubby, black television hostess-chick are cavorting - er, making great sacrifices - in Copenhagen in an attempt to get part-time work for 36,000 of their Chicago cronies in 2016 and the employment numbers come out for September.

No wonder President Training Pants got his ass out of town. I mean, as POTUS, wouldn't you rather be slamming down hors d'œuvres and hobnobbing with those unctuous, sanctimonious, slimy IOC types or staying here and facing the music, answering questions why you and the Botox Beyotch strong-armed Congress into blowing $780 bill on hopey-changey stimulus back in February and the U.S. economy is still Code Blue and flat-lining.

Just sayin'

Since we all will be staring down our liberal and RINO friends - those blockheads who foisted this clown off on us last November - and they will be in a state of wild-eyed disarray over their hero screwing the pooch the way he has, I would like to recommend a very good resource for witty rejoinders and ripostes. The readership over at Hot Air flocks to the posts by Ed Morrissey and Allahpundit as well as the other fine authors like Doc Zero and our own beloved Track-a'Crat in the Green Room and they post some truly clever observations along with some great links and interesting "screen scrapes". Commentary on the latest sad unemployment numbers is no exception. Among these are two excerpts from articles written back in 1982 when Reagan was in office and unemployment - as a result of adroit handling of the economy by the peanut (brained) farmer who preceded him as president. It seems that the Democrats were merciless and unsparing of their criticism of Reagan (thanks to Terry_Dyne, a poster on Hot Air):

JOBLESS RATE SPURTS TO A RECORD 9.8%Rep. Parren Mitchell (D-Md.), a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, denounced Reagan as having “sadistic fiscal policies.”

Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said, “It is impossible for Americans to spend their way out of the current recession while standing in the unemployment line.”

And Charles Manatt, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, asked: “How long can this Administration fumble and stumble before a coherent economic policy takes shape?”

..and this tidbit from the still-deceased Snorkeling Senator from Chappaquiddick:

UNEMPLOYMENT UP TO 9.8%Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said that since Mr. Reagan took office three million more people had lost their jobs.

”If those three million workers stood in line, they would reach all the way from the White House to the suburbs of Chicago, and if all 10 million now unemployed stood in line, it would span the country from the Potomac River to the Pacific,” he said.

Labor leaders were particularly bitter in denouncing the record rate of unemployment. Kirkland Sees ‘Human Disaster’The president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., Lane Kirkland, said today’s statistics ”could not begin to convey the dimensions of the human disaster that is unfolding in the United States.”

Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees, one of the largest unions in the A.F.L.-C.I.O., said the figures ”doom economic recovery.”

New York Times. Aug 7, 1982. pg. 1.1Terry_Dyne on October 2, 2009 at 11:49 AM

So what are we hearing from the Knee-pad Media about the Obama administration's effort to save or create jobs?

..crickets..

Also, here's a hot flash that you will probably already heard: the air strike called in by the O & O Gang (Obamas and Oprah) drew the collar, got rained out, bit the big one, and otherwise tanked: Chicago got dumped in the first round of voting. Boy, first it's that Venezualen tub of goo, then it's Aquavelvajad, then Sarkozy, and now it's the stiffs from the IOC. No one loves this jerk POTUS of ours. In my book, he has officially screamed past Carter in the race to become The Most Incompetent President Evah!

One question that I am sure will reverberate in future posts here (and elsewhere): Is it just my imagination, or does everything this man touches turn to bull fritters?

October 1, 2009

Madame S. Weasel started out a post on Dan Rather with her incredible photoshopping effort. The victim is our beloved ex-CBS News commentator, Banana Dan Rather. (Weasel's work is at the right.)

Happily this dreary sad sack has been cast aside and a potential limerick contest is in the offing. Well, at least I am trying to goad her into that. But, what the hell, if she doesn;t pick up the gage (cf. Ivanhoe), then I'll start one over here.

I am serious about this and throw it open to all. I will offer a suitable prize for the best effort; you know something special for the mantle or framing or the like.

I pretty much posted this rant as a comment over at The Illustrated Conservative -- my main insiration's blog. You have to drop by there; CJ comes up with the greatest insights couched in the most succinct posts.

Tonight his subject caused me to lose it with this Pantload of a POTUS we have. Our jobless claims keep clipping along at 500K+ per week and Obama takes his main squeeze and her chubby TV-host lady friend (who shilled for him on an affternoon talk show) to Denmark for an all-expenses-paid boogie to hook up two sets of crooks: the IOC and the Daley administraton.

What's the math on this? Well, lessee, we just dropped 550K jobs and God knows how much stimulus that would have generated (easily one billion bucks) into the toilet in order to get some slime-bag, puss-filled, bribe-taking pols together in an orgy that'll probably yield NO MORE THAN 125 million (what the L.A. Olympics raked in) and about 36,000 jobs (what the Salt Lake City Olympics raked in).

Meanwhile, how many kids have given their lives for their country in Afghanistan while you slam down the crepes and bourbon with your friends and continue to shine on your field commanders?

Priorities? Hello? The guy sucks swampwater.

You want me to substantiate my stats? You got three choices: (1) go Google it yourself, (2) wait till I get to the bottom of the Jack Daniels bottle and wake up tomorrow morning, or (3) go piss up a rope!

While out walking my dog, Alice, this morning I hit on a marvelous idea: an award I would confer to the stupidest event of the week. I am sure I don't have to describe where the inspiration came from, suffice to say I will be calling it the Steaming Load of the Week. The phrase comes from a line in a Drew Carey episode I saw some years ago wherein Mr Carey, upon hearing of a bad outcome of some pending event in his life, proclaimed, "Well, there's another steaming load of good news!"

(O.K., so I do explain things a bit too much. It comes from being married to a native Japanese wife and taking great pains to ensure that she understands my jokes.)

So, just a few rules. Firstly, there are no strict rules per se. Secondly, the award is not confined to Democrats, Obama, or the Left - although they are the prime targets of opportunity. But I shan't be afraid to skewer idiots on all sides of the political spectrum and, in fact, the world (or Universe) at large. I mean, why should God escape just because he decided to let the Delta Smelt or the Snail Darter go missing? And, finally, the substance of the award does not accrue to the person(s) or event(s) cited. That is, do not conflate the subject and a pile of warm canine fecal matter - unless it makes you happy to do so. I mean no disrespect to any person, just the act or circumstances that garnered them the award in the first place.

O.K., enough peroration. Now for the premier awardee(s)..envelope please..The POTUS and FLOTUS and Oprah for their noble efforts to secure the 2016 Olympics for the City of Chicago! This staggering effort was despite great personal sacrifice and at great taxpayer expense. It also was done with a mind-boggling sense of priorities by the Pantload-in-Chief who abandoned a country threatened by dire economic circumstances, raging unemployment, embroiled in foreign policy problems by both friend and foe alike.

But then again, what would one expect from a president with no serious credentials save for the equal-opportunity opportunities heaped upon him, consistently demonstrated unsound judgment, and non-stop campaigning that started the minute he hit his senate seat in 2006 and promises to continue through November 2012..

..and beyond, even if he doesn't gain a second term. I'm thinking of some Clinton-esque attempt to become Head Honcho of the U.N. or something like that. Although, to be fair, Bubba never threw his hat in the ring for that honor.

So there. I cannot think of a better set of recipients to kick off this skein.

By the way, I am open for suggestions for the subsequent weeks' awards if you have a mind to. I recommend by e-mail: voyskapvo@yahoo.com of course.

I got the following passed along from a good friend, Major Joseph DiMento, former USAF B-36 RDO (Radio Operator). Joe says, "I don't think I've ever seen the differences explained any better". What do you think?

The DifferenceI don't think I've ever seen the differences explained any better....

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one. If a liberal doesn't like guns, then no one should have one.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat. If a liberal is, he wants to ban all meat products for everyone.

If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy. A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly enjoys his life. If a liberal is homosexual, he loudly demands legislated respect.

If black or Hispanic men are conservative, they see himselves as independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down. If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church. A non-believing liberal wants all churches to be silenced.

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or he may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that his neighbors pay for his health care.

September 29, 2009

Culled from a related Hot Air! post, ol' Whoopie attempts to absolve "Cornhole" Polanski of his 31-year-old crime using the usual Lib equivocation shuffle. Click below if you dare hear this crap. What I am wondering is how would Goldberg feel if she was partying with Roman and he did to her what he did to the 13-year-old?

Oh God! What a horrible thought!

UPDATE:..who else here thinks this woman (Whoopi Goldberg) reminds you of one of those incoherent bag ladies who sidles up to you at the Albertsons and tries to bum a buck off you for a bottle of Sneaky Pete?

September 28, 2009

I must be honest, I had a brush with a "troll" the other day and it has turned out to be a very delightful experience.

No, not that I bested him in some imaginary verbal ju-jitsu match or dispatched him howling in pain with a fusillade of witty ripostes. But rather, much like that classic scene in one of those old Civil War movies where the Union soldier and the Reb strike a momentary peace to share tobacco, 'tack, and coffee, we found a few things we mutually liked and could discuss quite away from the heat of the political smirmishes around us. I regretted from the second or third round of our commentary calling him a "troll"; I rescind that unkind remark.

In any event, The Reaper - his sobriquet - called attention to the fact that he was on the flight line at Elmendorf AFB in Alaska when a Mig-29 landed for a scheduled refueling. I guess it was about the time the Soviet Union was floundering and on the brink of collapse, if it had not already suffered that fate. In any event, Reaper (a) must have been a brother member of the USAF (or a contract worker there) and (b) was witness to somehting that is not seen every day: the most advanced of your enemy's aircraft landing at one of your strategic outposts.

I mean, our Buffs or B-2s have not been dropping out of the sky into Tehran International from Whiteman or Diego Garcia, have they?

Anyway, it brought to mind a book I read about a very famous (and brave) young Voyska PVO (you know, Войска ПВО) pilot -- Lieutenant Viktor Belenko -- who defected with his Mig-25 to Japan back in the late 70s, looking for a better life and the reward that the government was offering to such people. Of course, they're heroes in our book, but the USSR had other ideas.

I stumbled upon a great book about this event and recommend it to you if you would like to really understand what life was like in the Soviet Air Defense Force back durig the Cold War. Back then, when I was in the Air Force, we did not have a lot of money to spray around on the niceties (O-clubs, recreational areas, or other such luxuries) but Lieutenant Belenko and his regiment had it far worse. They served long tours in very desolate stretches of their country. I mean, Minot or Grand forks were raging metropolises compared to the bases he was assigned to in Siberia.

Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia on Belenko:

Viktor Ivanovich Belenko (Виктор Иванович Беленко) (born February 15, 1947) is an American aerospace engineer and lecturer of Russian origin. Belenko was a pilot with the 513th Fighter Regiment, 11th Air Army, Soviet Air Defence Forces based in Chuguyevka, Primorsky Krai. His name became known worldwide on September 6, 1976, when he successfully defected to the West, flying his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 "Foxbat" jet fighter to Hakodate, Japan. This was the first time that Western experts were able to get a close look at the aircraft, and it revealed many secrets and surprises.

Belenko was granted asylum by then U.S. President Gerald Ford, and a trust fund was set up for him, granting him a very comfortable living in later years. The U.S. interrogated and debriefed him for five months after his defection, and employed him as a consultant for several years thereafter.

The MiG was disassembled, examined, and returned to the USSR in thirty crates. Belenko had brought with him the pilot's manual for the MiG-25 "Foxbat", expecting to assist American pilots in evaluating and testing the aircraft. However, the Japanese government only allowed the U.S. to examine the plane and do ground tests of the radar and engines.

And, as a matter of courtesy and profound curiosity, I will invite the Reaper to comment on his experience up in Elmendorf for your benefit. But you all have to promise to be on your best manners and show him how nice conservatives can truly be.

September 27, 2009

It seems perplexing to me that we elect such fools and bid them attend our needs by staying within the bounds of common sense, clear thinking, and our Constitution and they continually make a hash of it.

My question is: what cesspool of cerebral vacuity do we reach in every two years to draw them from when we have ordinary citizens like the grandmother at the right writing with such clarity on how to resolve the problems that beset us?

I do not agree 100% with everything Norma White has suggested in her guest column, but I believe that she has a lot of good ideas and they sure beat the crap out of the slime that oozes from either chamber of congress or the White House these days.

Anyone want to launch a campaign to see that this women and the millions like her across the country supplant the occupants of this fetid and festering candidate pool?

Dr. Timothy McCarthy while receiving a medical award for creativity, reported his findings to the "Fellows of Plastic Surgery" concluding with this case study: "Several years ago a woman was high on cocaine and marijuana and she rode a horse into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was the woman's hair and the horse's ass. I was able to put them together and now she's Speaker of the House".

September 26, 2009

I'm getting to like blogging a whole lot. Not just because I can paste together some self-important banalities and stick it out on the internet for everyone to see, but because I have some really, really nice people stop by to leave comments.

And you know what? I get a chance to go visit their blogs and see what nice work they have done.

Having done so, I would like to give credit where credit is due and pass along a good word for those who have had the courtesy to stop by and leave a comment. (And that goes for my pet troll as well.) And I can tell you that these folks have put considerable effort into their blogs and a visit will reward you with a visual feast, joy at reading their posts and their thoughs, and laughter from their humor. Their work is truly of a high caliber and a standard for me to shoot for. I am singularly honored that they have spent some time here to comment.

I started out blogging because of two sites: The Illustrated Conservative and Track-a-'Crat. These fine gentlemen, one from Texas and one from deep in the inner sanctum of our nation's capitol, endured my inane comments until both essentially told me to buzz off and do this on my own. Actually, they are both far too polite to be that direct, but they did encourage me and I am grateful.

And I am no less grateful for the visits from The Wisdom of Soloman who has a site riddled with great commentary and visuals. He also has a side-splitting You Tube of a George Carlin rant about environmentalists that is required viewing by not only you but those priggish, self-important Enviro-Nazis who seek to order our lives from the cars we drive to the toilet paper we use. Old George may have been a liberal but his rants made sense and were eminently listenable.

As a result of nothing but curiosity occasioned from a post by Track-a'Crat, two lovely ladies stopped by and commented. When I visited thwir sites, I was very impressed and recommend you take a look. The mind-boggling picture at the head of this screed was ripped off from the banner of the MAinfo -- another blogger forced to labor in the perdition of liberal surrounds, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. incidentally, can you imagine how obtuse the knee-pad media and our government must be to look at a scene like that and attempt to discount it as a minor assemblage of consevative Nazi racists? The picture is typical of the intersting items that festoon the MAinfo site.

Equally tart and insightful is the work over at Can we keep our Republic?. Her most recent recommendation for Christmas gift-giving will have you stampeding the malls after you stop rolling on the floor with laughter.

As far as totally outrageous pictures and a site created by a guy who I am glad is on our side, head over to Global Domination Through Applied Inactivity. Lightening Steve's a fearsome person with a talent for photoshopping some outrageous images to depict the absurdity of recent politics. He has an iron-hard Curriculum Vitae and I would not want to mess with him. Like I said, I am glad Steve's on our side.

So why is this interconnection and visiting good? Well, aside from the entertainment one derives from seeing others' fine work and reading their opinions, developing our internet voices will go a long way to blunting the waves of media propaganda that will be rolling our way as the 2010 elections heat up. The following I wrote as a comment on a Track-a-'Crat post probably best (albeit melodramatically) sums it up:

It is marvelous that you have achieved the traffic that you have because it is a lesson to all of us that getting the message out can be done. The foibles, absurdities, and abuses that are foisted off on the good citizens of this country do not have to be tolerated. These sites and the alternate media portraying the Town Hall protests, the Tea Parties, and the demonstrations are the modern day equivalent of the Committees of Correspondence that preceded our Revolutionary War.

That bloggers like you -- and those whom you have inspired -- will be ready and in operation will become very important when the thousands of Soros/Emanual/DNC funded trolls are unleashed on the internet next year. The effort put into positing clear, concise, reasonable arguments and conservative opinion will easily help us to deconstruct their pathetic paid-per-post, cut-and-paste talking points. Doubt me? Think of how the honest citizenry have exposed the stupidity and arrogance of our pathetic members of congress at their Town Hall charades this past August.

Another one of those e-mails I receive from time-to-time that implores me to pass the message along. This is from my good friend in the USAF Auxiliary, Kevin "Sky" King. Sometimes these are so good or so much in line what I would like to write that it just makes sense to post it as is..

..besides, it's Saturday morning and I am really going to be lazy this morning.

Enjoy:

This retired USMC Sgt. Major has his shit together.

"The Axis of Idiots"J. D. Pendry, Retired Sergeant Major, USMC

Jimmy Carter, you are the father of the Islamic Nazi movement. You threw the Shah under the bus, welcomed the Ayatollah home, and then lacked the spine to confront the terrorists when they took our embassy and our people hostage. You're the runner-in-chief.

Bill Clinton, you played ring around the Lewinsky while the terrorists were at war with us. You got us into a fight with them in Somalia and then you ran from it. Your weak-willed responses to the USS Cole and the First Trade Center Bombing and Our Embassy Bombings emboldened the killers. Each time you failed to respond adequately, they grew bolder, until 9/11/2001.

John Kerry, dishonesty is your most prominent attribute. You lied about American Soldiers in Vietnam. Your military service, like your life, is more fiction than fact. You've accused our military of terrorizing women and children in Iraq. You called Iraq the wrong war, wrong place, wrong time, and the same words you used to describe Vietnam. You're a fake! You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did to the Vietnamese. Iraq, like Vietnam, is another war that you were for, before you were against it.

John Murtha, you said our military was broken. You said we can't win militarily in Iraq. You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof and said we should redeploy to Okinawa. Okinawa, John? And the Democrats call you their military expert! Are you sure you didn't suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You're a sad, pitiable, corrupt, and washed up old fool. You're not a Marine, sir. You wouldn't amount to a good pimple on a real Marine's ass. You're a phony and a disgrace. Run away, John.

Dick Durbin, you accused our Soldiers at Guantanamo of being Nazis, tenders of Soviet style gulags and as bad as the regime of Pol Pot, who murdered two million of his own people after your party abandoned Southeast Asia to the Communists. Now you want to abandon the Iraqis to the same fate. History was not a good teacher for you, was it? Lord help us! See Dick run.

Ted Kennedy, for days on end you held poster-sized pictures from Abu Ghraib in front of any available television camera. Al Jazeera quoted you saying that Iraqi's torture chambers were open under new management. Did you see the news, Teddy? The Islamic Nazis demonstrated another beheading for you. If you truly supported our troops, you'd show the world poster-sized pictures of that atrocity and demand the annihilation of it. Your legislation stripping support from the South Vietnamese led to a communist victory there. You're a bloated, drunken, useless old fool bent on repeating the same historical blunder that turned freedom-seeking people over to homicidal, genocidal maniacs. To paraphrase John Murtha, all while sitting on your fat, gin-soaked ass in Washington

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Carl Levine, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Pat Leahy, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, the Hollywood Leftist morons, et al, ad nauseam: Every time you stand in front of television cameras and broadcast to the Islamic Nazis that we went to war because our President lied, that the war is wrong and our Soldiers are torturers, that we should leave Iraq, you give the Islamic butchers - the same ones that tortured and mutilated American Soldiers - cause to think that we'll run away again, and all theyhave to do is hang on a little longer. It is inevitable that we, the infidels, will have to defeat the Islamic jihadists. Better to do it now on their turf, than later on ours after they have gained both strength and momentum.American news media, the New York Times particularly: Each time you publish stories about national defense secrets and our intelligence gathering methods, you become one united with the sub-human pieces of camel dung that torture and mutilate the bodies of American Soldiers. You can't strike up the courage to publish cartoons, but you can help Al Qaeda destroy my country. Actually, you are more dangerous to us than Al Qaeda is. Think about that each time you face Mecca to admire your Pulitzer.

You are America's 'AXIS OF IDIOTS.' Your Collective Stupidity will destroy us. Self-serving politics and terrorist-abetting news scoops are more important to you than our national security or the lives of innocent civilians and Soldiers. It bothers you that defending ourselves gets in the way of your elitist sport of politics and your ignorant editorializing. There is as much blood on your hands as is on the hands of murdering terrorists. Don't ever doubt that. Your frolics will only serve to extend this war as they extended Vietnam. If you want our Soldiers home as you claim, knock off the crap and try supporting your country ahead of supporting your silly political aims and aiding our enemies.

Yes, I'm questioning your patriotism. Your loyalty ends with self. I'm also questioning why you're stealing air that decent Americans could be breathing. You don't deserve the protection of our men and women in uniform. You need to run away from this war, this country. Leave the war to the people who have the will to see it through and the country to people who are willing to defend it.

Our country has two enemies: Those who want to destroy us from the outside and those who attempt it from within.

Simper Fi,

J. D. Pendry - Sergeant Major, USMC, Retired

This is a savvy man. He has nailed it down pretty good. Too bad it won't do any good. There won't be 1 in 10 that receive it who will forward it.

September 25, 2009

The image on the right is the work of Madame S. Weasel, a truly talented and witty blogger in England and American expatriate, I believe. Track-a-'Crat turned me onto her site with a magnificent photoshop she did of the infamous Arlen Sphincter.

Once there, I was hooked; the wit and irreverence of her posts and her commenters drives me into paroxysms of laughter.

Some time ago, I happened to post a comment that she should start a dead pool (here I grasp for any fleeting fragment of fame I can) and she ran with the idea. It became immensely popular with her (mostly conservative) audience jumping on the bandwagon with all manner of selections. Some had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, some were just old, and some were..well..just greatly disliked liberal icons of our media firmament.

Well, the cool thing is that it's racked racked up three winners so far -- Teddy Kennedy, Patrick Swayze, and now Susan Atkins. Of course, we all lament the passing of Swayze, but the other two don't overwork my tear ducts a great deal. This last entry was the woman who followed Charlie Manson's orders and stabbed Sharon Tate and her unborn child some forty years and one month ago. She's been in prison all this time and recently contracted brain cancer which was the cause of her death, of course.

Slow and painful; Sharon Tate would have wanted it that way.

The winners actually get a prize, I believe culled from whatever S. Weasel has lying around her pantry. A couple of prizes were canned haggis and spotted dick.

Don't ask.

Anyway, the message here is that -- like the Clint Eastwood movie -- her Dead Pool seems to be working out. I think with the new round, there's selectees like Jimmy Carter, Michael Moore, and the other usual, odious suspects. So, if you have a fave, waltz on over and jot down the name.

I just took a look at the first run of the new production job (see post below) and things look rosier that at first suspected, so I'd though I'd share this. I know I'm a little late to the dance with this item. But it seems that the stunning jet at the right will be squiring our hatchet-assed, botox beyotch House Speaker around the nation, mostly between those two anal pores of our nation, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Herewith is the text that accompanied the notification e-mail I received.:

"And the Democrats want to talk about Sarah's dress??? Conservatives! Are you out there?

"Madame Pelosi wasn't happy with the small jet USAF C-20B, Gulfstream III, that comes with the Speaker's job...no, Madame Pelosi was aggravated that this little jet had to stop to refuel, so she ordered a Big Fat 200-seat USAF C-32, Boeing 757 jet that could get her back to California without stopping!

"Many, many legislators walked by and grinned with glee as Joe informed everyone that Nancy's Big Fat Jet costs us, the hard working American tax payers, thousands of gallons of fuel every week. Since she only works 3 days a week, this gas guzzling jet gets fueled and she flies home to California , cost to the taxpayers of about $60,000, one way! As Joe put it, 'Unfortunately we have to pay to bring her back on Monday night.' Cost to us another $60,000.

"Folks, that is $480,000 per month and that is an annual cost to the taxpayers of $5,760,000. No wonder she complains about the cost of this war...it might cramp her style and she is styling, on my back and yours. I think of the military families in this country doing without and this woman, who heads up the most do-nothing Congress in the history of this country keeps fueling that jet while doing nothing.

"Madame Pelosi wants you and me to conserve our carbon footprint. She wants us to buy smaller cars and Obama wants us to get a bicycle pump and air up our tires. These people are nuts. {And also EVIL!!!}

"One wonders what her total package cost us? And she wants to tax our IRA's & 401 Ks!"

September 24, 2009

There is so-o-o-o-o-o-o much going on recently -- The Head Pantload and his crew are running this country into the ground at such a rapid rate -- that it virtually impossible for anyone writing a blog and holding down a regular day job to keep up. It's kind of like that Martin Sheen quote in Apocalypse Now:

"Oh man, the bullshit piled up so fast in Vietnam you needed wings to stay above it."

Truth be told, I admire those that do manage a steady, conscientious stream of commentary but I am too beset with my own special version of ADHD to chronicle effectively. So, time for a break and some news of one "sort of" area where the gummint does something right.

"So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

So, you don't have a gun and would like to get one? Figure it would be nice to have one around "just in case". It seems a lot of folks thought that way when Obama was elected and the Democrats took control of every branch of government in sight. Lines at guns stores backed up around the block and the wait time to get into gun shows were over an hour; guns disappeared from the counters and ammunition flew off the shelves. Of course, this story was delightful for the Knee Pad Media to write about as it seemed to confirm Obama's sentiment.

Well, currently the "Obama Bullet Bubble" -- this run on guns and ammunition -- has dissipated somewhat. Boxes of .223 and .30-06 are to be had, although the price is a little dearer since this clown became POTUS and you still have to jump through the hoops you did before: background check, 5- to 10-day waiting period, etc. Out here in California we pay $25 pwer long gun, wait ten days, have our purchases "DROS'ed" (Dealer Record of Sale), and are limited to purchasing one gun per month. Guess they want to stop us left-coast clingers from raising our own standing army.

But what if I told you there was a way around all of this bravo sierra (sort of), that you could own a piece of history with the help of the Federal Government? Well, it's a fact. It seems that, in saner days bordering on ancient history, it was recognized that our military -- principally the U.S. Army and Marine Corps -- needed their conscriptees and enlistees to be familiar with firearms and at least be a passing fair shot. Familiarity with firearms in the olden days was an asset to them; they could proceed on to the next level without having to tell a new private that the stock goes to the shoulder and the muzzle is pointed down range.

1905- On March 3, 1905 another act of Congress authorized "That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to sell, at the prices at which they are listed for the Army, upon request of the governors of the Several States and Territories, such magazine rifles belonging to the United States as are not necessary for the equipment of the Army and the organized militia, for the use of rifle clubs formed under regulations prepared by the national board for the promotion of rifle practice and approved by the Secretary of War. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized in his discretion to sell to the several States and Territories, as prescribed in section seventeen of the Act approved January twenty-first, nineteen hundred and three, for the use of said clubs, ammunition, ordnance stores, and equipments of the Government standard at the prices at which they are listed for the Army." Remember that the National Matches were limited to the Regular Services and the State National Guard organizations. This act was mostly to allow the National Guard organizations, which were not as organized as they are today, to get access to the rifles used in the National Matches. They were more like state militia, than the National Guard of today. The National Matches were held at Sea Girt.

Originally starting out life as the DCM (Department of Civilian Marksmanship), it morphed into its present organization, The CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program) and is a quasi-governmental organization squirreled away under the Department of the Army. The CMP maintains two stores: one in Anniston, Alabama and another in Port Clinton, Ohio. It also conducts rifle matches, rifle safety programs, and an intense youth firearm education program. From it's charter page:

HISTORY OF THE CMP. CMP history goes back to late 19th century efforts by U.S. military and political leaders to strengthen our country’s national defense capabilities by improving the rifle marksmanship skills of members of the Armed Forces. The CMP traces its direct lineage to 1903 when Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt established the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP) and the National Matches. From then until 1996, first the Department of War and later the Department of the Army managed the program that became known as the “civilian marksmanship program.” During this period, program objectives shifted from military marksmanship to training civilians who might serve in the military to developing youth through marksmanship training. In 1996, Congress acted again to establish the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearm Safety that now governs the CMP.

While the availability and prices have changed over the years, one can expect to find a decent surplus rifle for a reasonable price. Currently, an M-1 Garand is available for anywhere from $375 to $995 depending on grade and manufacturer. The CMP also sells the long-time favorite M-1 Carbine from about $420 to $700, again depending upon grade and manufacturer. It also has the older, bolt-action Springfield 1903 available as well. Additionally, they sell ammunition (surplus .30-06 and some .30 caliber for the M1 Carbine) although quantities are getting scarce -- especially since November of last year, if you know what I mean.

The catch is you have to become a member of the CMP and that includes being a citizen of the United States (sorry, Abdulla), be old enough to buy a firearm, be eligible to buy a firearm (i.e., not a convicted felon), be a member of an organization that supports the CMP, and have demonstrated range marksmanship or firearm activity. The organization requirement may be satisfied by joining the Garand Collectors of America for $25. It's a good organization and you get a quarterly magazine with some great history, pictures, and pointers on collecting the M-1 Garand. The marksmanship activity requirement can be satisfied by going to a local firing range, popping off 50 rounds or so and have the range master attest to the fact that you knew which end of the muzzle to aim at the piece of paper.

And here is the great thing -- especially if you live in California -- once you place your order, when it comes up (there is a 120- to 180-day delay in some cases) and they send it to you, they send it to you. There is none of that crappy sending it to a local FFL'ed gun dealer where you have to pay money to have him DROS it and sign it over to you. The federal background check is done by the CMP and you get your Garand Fedexed to you..

..and, believe me, there's nothing cooler than having the delivery guy ask you to sign for the long, rectangular box realizing you have flipped off the gummint with the help of one of their own organizations.

Take that, Obama!

By the way, this has become an obsession with some folks (collecting these rifles, not flipping off the government). Their collections can number into the hundreds, with folks trying to get one of each type from each era, etc.

I'll leave it there for now. But a thought: this rifle is a certifiable piece of our history. It was one of the best battle rifles for its time. It was designed by a genius (and a Canadian, by the way), and of which Patton said:

The greatest battle implement ever devised by man.

Owning one (or more) in this day and age is arguably like a person around the Civil War period owning a Revolutionary War rifle. I will pass mine down to my son who, I hope, shall pass it along to his son. Imagine in 100 years having one of your descendants say, "Wow, this was one of the rifles that helped win WWII."